Sun Jihai is expected to miss Manchester City's opening match in their tour of his homeland tonight as the Chinese defender struggles to recover from a hamstring strain. Sun travelled to China with the squad but his manager Stuart Pearce admitted his fitness is a concern before the World Series Tournament match against Shanghai Shenhua.

Neither Andy Cole nor Nedum Onuoha made the trip to the Far East and they are instead trying to be fit to figure in the Premiership opener at Chelsea in a little over a fortnight. "It was more beneficial for them not to get on an aeroplane and miss a day of training," Pearce said. "So we made the decision to keep the boys training at Carrington."

Pearce has professed himself satisfied with City's pre-season so far, adding: "It's fitness we've been looking for and the first four games before we've come away were all aimed at building up players towards getting 90 minutes in. I think these two games will serve us well in China."

Newly promoted Reading are giving a trial to the Cameroon defender André Stephane Bikey on their pre-season tour in Sweden. The Royals manager Steve Coppell is eager to strengthen his defence and the Lokomotiv Moscow centre-back is one of several targets, although their hopes of signing Ghana's John Mensah from Rennes are receding.

"To be honest we have gone down a few blind alleys concerning possible transfers in recent days," said Coppell, who is reported to have bid £3.5m for Mensah.

Portsmouth have confirmed their interest in Juan Vargas, with the Argentinian side Colón de Santa Fe reported to want £1.6m for the 22-year-old Peruvian defender. Meanwhile, Lomana LuaLua believes the club's record £4.1m signing Benjani Mwaruwari will prove his worth despite the striker scoring only once in 16 games last term. "He is a good player and we will see that when the season starts," said LuaLua.